Sharing Common Sense in a Chaotic World

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I’m trying to make sense of what is happening in America. It hasn’t been easy.

As a parent, I cannot imagine my son dying in police custody from a spinal injury. I don’t care what he did or who he did it to, the amount of force and suffering that had to go into killing someone by spinal injury is beyond comprehension. The same holds true for the kids of Walter Scott in South Carolina who watched the videotape of their father being gunned down while trying to flee a police officer who pulled him over for a broken tail light. I try to imagine the injustice and rage I would feel if that was someone I knew.

I have a lot of respect for police officers, fire fighters, and people serving in our armed forces who risk their lives to help us, save us, and protect our way of life. But, when police departments protect the guilty within their ranks, due to some archaic code of honor, we lose our trust in all police officers. When the Catholic Church protects pedophile Priests, people lose their faith in the church. When schools protect teachers who are incompetent, or even worse, a sexual threat to our children, in the name of tenure, we lose our trust in the entire school system. When politicians are found guilty of corruption again and again, and somehow manage to avoid prosecution, we lose faith in our political system.

This is where we now stand in America. We have gone from the “Greatest Generation” to the generation that will destroy our country. We point fingers and file lawsuits instead of using common sense. That’s what our generation will be known for…we killed Common Sense.

Below are seven stories from 2013 where love, decency and human kindness triumphed over evil, adversity and despair. I wrote this blog post because I think it’s important that, as we enter 2014, we don’t just remember people such as Miley Cyrus, Alex Rodriguez, Mayor Ford from Toronto and Kim Kardashian.

A few people below are household names; others you may or may not know. Click on the names to learn more about their story. If you have people you want to add to the list, feel free to let me know. Thanks!

Pope Francis – He is doing what every great leader does throughout history—leading by example. The Catholic Church has gone through a difficult period, and lost quite a few followers. He is bringing people back. He is humble, selfless, kind, sincere and humane. I pray for his continued good health so that he can help spread God’s word for years to come.

Ronnie Smith – A moving letter from Ronnie Smith’s widow on the importance of forgiveness.

BatKid – Every kid deserves to be a super hero. Well done city of San Francisco!!

Malala – The 14 year old Pakistani girl who took on the Taliban with her mind and her school books…and won.

Nelson Mandela – He was the embodiment of peace, strength and character when he had every reason to hate.

Brenda Schmitz – The amazing story of an incredible woman and her special request.

Merriam-Webster defines common sense as the ability to think and behave in a reasonable way and to make good decisions. A second definition adds sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.

I started this blog because I am deeply concerned that common sense really isn’t so common anymore. In fact, when I see what’s happening in our world, I honestly believe that it just might be gone for good. I also needed a place to vent my frustrations that allowed me more than 140 characters to do so. There will be no regularly scheduled posts for now. When I feel the sense of frustration boiling over, I will turn on my computer and share my views with whoever decides to read what I write. If there’s a place to leave comments, then I welcome whatever you have to say. All I ask is keep it fairly clean and don’t be derogatory towards anyone…especially me!